Spooner

'nuff said...

Pete Simpson, and old mate from my early twitching days turned up in Bangkok a few weeks back, on his way to Doi Inthanon and the other joys of the north. I promised that upon his return I'd have some gen for him on the presence/absence of SPOON-BILLED SANDPIPERS in the Gulf of Thailand this winter, and so was pleased to learn last week that Sp-bS had been seen both at Khok Kham and Pak Thale. Pete duly reappeared after gripping me with a few of my DI bogeys, and I offered to take him out to see the Sp-bS...I owed him that at least - the poor guy had driven me from Surrey/Kent to see the Roller at East Budleigh, and a Black Duck near Glasgow (perhaps the most pointless twitch of all time? No, I was introduced to the Stone Roses en route) in the late 1980s - and we spent this afternoon watching a single Spoon-billed Sandpiper in the company of the now famous Mr Tee at Khok Kham.

Mr Tee also told me that there are currently 8 Spoon-billed Sands at Pak Thale, plus five Nordamann's Greenshank.

Other waders seen today included RN Stint, LT Stint, Broad-billed Sand, Curlew Sand, both Sandpolvers, Pacific Goldie, and Black -winged Stilt...